Sound Weave is a weaving of used audio tape cassettes. We use 110 used cassettes for the warps (the threads that extend from the back of the loom.) The audience can join this participatory installation by bringing their own used cassettes for the woofs (the thread that weaves back-and-forth). Audiences can mix in the sound of their cassette before weaving using the three cassette players configured with a mixer to create an audio layer of Sound Weave. This piece was exhibited as a part of the Heart of Prague Quadrennial Project. After 15 days of the exhibition, the weave became 5 meters long, extending out the back of the loom onto the architectural landscape. Audio cassette tape is a vanishing analogue technology. Everybody has a stock of the used, but not being used tapes at home, yet we feel a strange attachment to these disappearing objects. Through this weave, audio tapes become "artifact" and live a different life. This is probably the last resistance of vanishing analogue media.

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Installations

The Heart of Prague Quadriennale (June 12-26, 2003) Our first installation of the work was held at the Heart of Prague Quadriennale held from June 12-26, 2003 as part of the sense of Hearing tower. The Heart of PQ space was at the centre of the Industrial Palace in Prague and is shown in the figures below. The space was divided into towers with human sense themes for Sight, Touch, Taste, Smell, and Hearing. The Sound tower is in the centre of the room in upper right of the first image. It consisted of two floors; the lower floor was a sound tunnel much like the ear canal. Student installation works were installed in the sound tunnel for participants to play with generate sounds. The Sound Weave was placed on the upper floor at the far end of the platform that supported the Sound Room. The following images show pictures from the installation in Prague.

Figure 1: View of Heart of PQ space from the front looking to the left. The Sound Room is the black box on the upper level at the right of the image. The Sight tower is to the left at the back and the Smell tower is at the left at the front of the image.

Figure 2: View of Heart of PQ space from the front looking to the right. The Touch tower is at the back on the right and the Taste tower is at the front to the right.

Figure 3: Sachiyo Takahashi and Sid Fels assembling the sound weaving machin.

Figure 4: Close-up of the back of the sound weaving machine with the tapes assembled.

Figure 5: Close-up of the front of the sound weaving machine.

Figure 6: Participant weaving audio tape.

Figure 7: Close-up of the sound weaving.

Figure 8: Image of the Sound Weave as it grows in length and starts to flow onto the architectural landscape..

About the Artists (from 2001 description)

Sachiyo Takahashi

Sachiyo Takahashi studied new philosophy (culture and representation) at the Tokyo University and continued as an assistant there from 1993 to 1996). Her main research was in Japanese traditional theater (Noh theater and Japanese traditional puppet theater Bunraku) and performance in this century focusing on voice and body in performance. From childhood, she has played several Occidental musical instruments and later learned Noh flute from Master Yukimasa Isso for 10 years. She has been deeply involved and influenced by Noh theater. From her interests in the fine combination of sound and action in performance, she created experimental pieces in Tokyo from 1988, applying traditional concepts to develop a new art form. In 1996, she came to Belgium to work with Jan Fabre. She studied theater direction from him and played in three of his works including "Glowing Icons". She has studied electro acoustic composition with Prof. Annette Van de Gorne. In December 1999 she created and performed her sound-action piece "Aviation/Abbreviation" (production: Troubleyn vzw) in Antwerp, Belgium. She is on tour with this production as well as other collaboration in 2001. She has been actively collaborating with artists from different fields, including: Akitsugu Maebayashi, Sidney Fels, Alzek Misheff.

Sidney Fels

Sidney Fels received his Ph. D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Toronto in 1994 and 1990 respectively. He received his B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in 1988. He was a visiting research at ATR Media Integration \amp Communications Research Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan from 1996 to 1997. He created the Glove-TalkII system that allows a person to speak with their hands. The device was built to be a virtual artificial vocal tract. He also created the Iamascope is an interactive artwork which explores the relationship between people and machines. In Iamascope, the participant takes the place of the coloured piece of glass inside the kaleidoscope. The participant's movements cause a symphony of imagery and music to engulf them. His other artwork includes the Forklift Ballet, PlesioPhone and Video Cubism.

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge our funding sources for this project.

• POLA Foundation, Japan
• Canadian Council for the Arts
• Government of Czech Republic
• Culture 2000 Programme of the European Union

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